Two girls grow wheat and make jam, do happily silly things and even gain weight
This year the wheat was sown on December 4 and sprouted five days later. In Dongshi, by the sea on the Chianan Plain, winter is the dry season; starting at the end of last year, the Shangshan Gathering Studio returned to its hometown to grow wheat, and this year can be counted as year two of the wheat era.
After moving back from the Nanheng mountain area to their hometown of Dongshi, the family has three fen of thin fields, which serve as the hands-on practice ground for agricultural apprentice Wanling. Dongshi sits by the sea, commonly known as "the head of the wind and the tail of the water"; the winter sea winds are especially strong, and being at the tail end of the freshwater supply system, every household needs to install a pump to ensure water supply. In the fields, apart from the irrigation system releasing water once a year for the spring plowing of the first rice crop, the irrigation ditches are normally dry. Almost every field has its own well, but unless it is a deep well, in recent years shallow wells mostly yield salt water, which is unfavorable for irrigation.
Our three fen of fields have no well drilled for irrigation water and rely entirely on rain-fed farming. Wheat is planted in winter, and after the wheat harvest at the end of March, we wait until May to plant dryland rice, peanuts, roselle, millet and other water-thrifty coarse grain crops.
At present, we have some very special artisan breads, namely:
[Orange-Scented Roselle Butter Christmas Bread]. Candied orange peel and roselle preserved in orange juice, plum wine and honey, along with plenty of Sifang butter and fresh cream, as well as Mudda Ranch eggs. Fermented for more than 24 hours; the crumb is fine and dense, the rich milky flavor vies with the orange peel for fragrance, and a streak of red is the sweet-and-sour taste of roselle.
You can't avoid tonics in winter, so we use the sweet, dense sweet potatoes of Sister Hongxiang, along with black sesame oil produced and pressed at home in Tainan, to bring you [Sesame Oil Sweet Potato Bread]. Stir-fried sweet potato in sesame oil is a humble, old-fashioned southern tonic favorite. Made in a smaller version, each loaf of bread is 110g, priced at 80 yuan.
Sifang butter and naturally farmed sweet corn join hands in [Butter Corn Bread], with a clear, sweet milky taste. Also made in a smaller version, each loaf is 125g, priced at 100 yuan. This bread is currently sold out.
In addition, our own much-loved [Fermented Rice Wine Longan Whole Wheat Grain Artisan Bread], [Wine-Soaked Red-Fleshed Plum and Banana Wild Honey Whole Wheat Grain Artisan Bread] and [Three-Rice Golden Sweet Potato Artisan Bread] are also offered in this select year-end bread lineup.
To sum up, this bread lineup includes sweet flavors: [Orange-Scented Roselle Butter Christmas Bread], [Fermented Rice Wine Longan Whole Wheat Grain Artisan Bread], [Wine-Soaked Red-Fleshed Plum and Banana Wild Honey Whole Wheat Grain Artisan Bread]. There is also a culinary, staple-food route: [Sesame Oil Sweet Potato Bread], [Butter Corn Bread], [Three-Rice Golden Sweet Potato Artisan Bread].
Friends who want to give it a try can look at the order form on the Shangshan Gathering fan page